The borderline conspiracy theories on this are odd. If you're a manager, having a remote team is just harder.
It can still work well with a certain type of people, people who are self directed and take pride in their work, but let's not fool ourselves into believing that's the only kind.
What I typically saw were people in the office doing a lot of nothing, because if they were in the office it was “working” just being there. Those working from home worked extra hard to try and prove they were actually working and making sure they were getting noticed.
During quarantine, companies universally congratulated themselves and their staff on the boost in productivity that WFH enabled.
The non self-directed types were still employed, and their productivity wasn't much better or worse, but I suspect that the self-directed team members were able to deliver even more than before.
It can still work well with a certain type of people, people who are self directed and take pride in their work, but let's not fool ourselves into believing that's the only kind.